Ping Yuen

Address: 655 Pacific, 711 Pacific, 795 Pacific, 895 Pacific

Once a landmark public housing project intended to serve Asian American families, by the late 1970s Ping Yuen (and its neighbor North Ping Yuen) had become a community struggling with underfunded management and repair, crime and a disconnection to City services and support. Chinatown CDC began its efforts in the Pings in that era, working with residents to protest poor conditions, and has provided staffing to support residents ever since.

In 2014 San Francisco opted to use HUD's RAD program as an opportunity to transfer public housing buildings to developers with community ties who could rehabilitate and operate the buildings long-term. Ping Yuen, consisting of three buildings with 234 units, is one of four properties that Chinatown CDC was selected to transform, own and operate. Chinatown CDC developed a plan to improve these nearly 70 year old buildings, improving the units, the systems, and safety and security while also adding a much-needed community center for resident events and community activities. Improvements began in late 2016 and will be complete by the beginning of 2019.